Lake Way

Lake Way in Brief

Discovered: 1972

Average Grade: 0.96%

Reserves: 4000 tonnes

Shire: Wiluna

Millbillillie Pastoral Station

Lake Way is located in Western Australia, 17 km south east of Wiluna, and 600 km north of Kalgoorlie. It was discovered in 1972, and the deposit is situated on an existing channel on the northern edge of the Lake Way salt lake.

Lake Way comprises about 4,000 tonnes of U3O8, grading at 0.9kgs/tonne or 0.087%; extraction of the Yeelirrie-like calcrete would be by using the carbonate leach-ion exchange method. Lake Way is a very shallow low-grade sedimentary deposit in a 1.5 metre thick seam averaging 4.5 metres below the surface, which would have been mined by a mosaic of small pits over some 9 square kilometres. Read more about the history of Lake Way.

In June 2000, researchers discovered areas of extreme radiation scattered around the former test site, unmarked and unfenced. Corroded 44 gallon drums and piles of windblown uranium ore lie on the shoreline. Out on the lake bed, ground level radiation levels as high as 70 times background were recorded at the area where the ore samples had been stored.

The DME has supported ANAWA’s contention that the original site cleanup was inadequate. They have asked Normandy Mining (the present leaseholder) to immediately bury the material that had been found.

They appear to have missed the areas of greatest contamination however, so ANAWA will be pushing for a full radiation survey of the area. The last thing we need is for this to be swept under the carpet for another 16 years. The local people deserve to know what’s really out there.